


Starting Over

by Morgane (smilla840)



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Episode Tag, M/M, Missing Scene, Possibly AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-03
Updated: 2012-11-03
Packaged: 2017-11-17 16:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/553527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilla840/pseuds/Morgane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened after the wedding festivities were over in 'Something Borrowed'?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starting Over

**Author's Note:**

> A missing scene for 'Something Borrowed'. AU, though it doesn't contradict canon. There was a certain ‘something’ at the end of that episode that I couldn’t resist, considering – you’ll see what I mean. Some angst, and then some fluff because I’m a sucker for happy endings.
> 
> Originally posted at my livejournal.

As Ianto takes Jack’s hand and moves into his arms, it becomes quite obvious Jack’s mind – and heart – aren’t really into it. Were he anyone else he probably wouldn’t have noticed in the first place, but he’s danced with Jack before and this right here isn’t dancing _with_ Jack. Because Jack has a way of making you feel special, cherished, like you’re the only one that matters when you’re in his arms – or at least that’s how it felt to Ianto last time – and at this very moment Ianto feels anything but.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what – and who – Jack is thinking about. That, in turn, makes Ianto dwell on a subject he usually avoids contemplating, because he may have come into this relationship with his eyes wide open he hadn’t quite thought he would up against _this_.

Of course, now that he’s started thinking about it he can’t stop and he wishes he wasn’t here, dancing with Jack and feeling so out of place. In fact, he began regretting it the minute he asked Jack for the dance, interrupting him and Gwen, and went utterly unnoticed. Reason would have dictated he turn back then but Ianto has his pride. Now though… now he thinks he should have just walked away, the others’ opinion be damned. Because it would have been better than this.

Eventually Jack seems to get in the mood, tugging Ianto closer, but Ianto can’t relax, can’t stop wondering, and he pulls away at the end of the next song. The smile feels fake on his face as he pretexts the need for a drink, and he hopes Jack is still too distracted to notice. When he glances back, Jack is standing alone in the middle of the dancing couples, looking a little lost, and Ianto feels a pang in his chest. He wants to go back to him and make everything better, except he has no idea what’s wrong – apart from the obvious, and that he can’t fix.

And suddenly he can’t bear to be in the same room as Jack and Gwen and he bypasses the bar entirely in his haste to leave. He steps outside, taking a deep breath, and walks slowly towards their car. Maybe the night air will clear his head – it’s almost time for the Retcon anyway so he might as well go and get it.

When he gets back Jack is back to his old self and Ianto can’t decide whether to be thankful or to shake him until he gets some answers. In the end he does nothing – neither the time nor the place, and his parents raised him not to make a scene at someone else’s wedding.

After that it’s only a matter of one final toast to the happy couple and the entire room is soon fast asleep. They won’t remember the last few hours – it’s too bad they won’t remember the actual wedding either – and will wake up the next morning with no clue as to what came to pass.

Ianto almost envies them.

Then they send Gwen and Rhys off and it’s back to work for Torchwood minus one. There are two corpses to deal with, a civilian death to explain, blood to get out of carpets and an entire wedding party to dispatch to their respective rooms so that they can wake up the next day hangover and swear off alcohol forever.

 

It’s nearly dawn when Ianto finishes his part of the job and he tiredly makes his way back towards the reception hall to wait for the others. God, he is tired. The buzz inside his head won’t shut up and he eyes the alcohol longingly as he sits down heavily at their table.

One drink won’t hurt. And maybe he’ll stop thinking.

\---

Owen heaves the last of the guests into his bed with Tosh’s help and complains loudly about people who don’t exercise enough – which is, of course, purely his medical opinion.

They’re done, finally! Or at least, he is – and he isn’t about to volunteer to help Jack or Ianto if they’re not done yet. In fact he plans on sitting his ass back on his chair and having one last pint – except he can’t. Damn, but he keeps forgetting that one. Just like he’s got no excuse _not_ to get into work the next day – it’s not like he is going to sleep the day away.

Still grumbling – and ignoring Tosh’s amused smile – he enters the reception room and spots Ianto dozing at their table.

Lucky bastard.

He stomps over to him, making as much noise as he can but Ianto barely stirs.

Uh. Weird. The one time he walked up to Ianto and found him asleep, a few days after Jack’s disappearance, the man startled awake so fast he almost fell off his chair.

Owen glances at Tosh, trying to gauge whether she thinks something is wrong in this picture but she is getting herself a bottle of water and isn’t really paying much attention to them. So Owen – valiantly – resists the urge to nudge Ianto and looks around.

And that’s when he sees it.

Oh crap.

\---

Jack steps into the room just in time to hear Owen curse loudly. He raises an eyebrow and walks up to their table, shooting Tosh an inquiring glance but she just shrugs back at him. Ianto on the other hand… is fast asleep, and Jack grins. He looks cute.

Owen momentarily forgotten, Jack reaches out to shake Ianto a little – time to go home, he thinks – but it seems it’s the wrong thing to do because Owen whirls around and tears him a new one.

“It’s all your bloody fault!” he shouts, poking a finger at Jack’s chest.

Jack frowns.

“What are you talking about?” he asks, batting Owen’s finger away.

“Look!”

Owen gestures towards Ianto – still dozing, an empty glass of champagne in front of him and…

\---

Tosh catches on at the same time as Jack does and watches him pale a little and sit down.

“Now he gets it,” Owen says sarcastically and Tosh frowns. They seem to think Ianto did it on purpose but they have to be wrong – he was tired, he probably didn’t remember… Right?

“He wouldn’t… Not on purpose. Would he?” she asks, looking for confirmation.

“Oh, I don’t know. Why don’t we ask Jack? He’s the boyfriend, after all – he should have a pretty good idea. Or maybe we should ask Gwen. I mean, it’s not like we can ask _Ianto_ , since he isn’t going to _remember_. Oh, wait! Maybe that was the point!”

Tosh opens her mouth to say… something – she isn’t quite sure what but she’s got to stop this before it escalates – but Jack beats her to it, having regained his composure.

“What is it with you and Ianto anyway?” he asks, eyes narrowed.

“Why?” Owen taunts. “Jealous? It’s not like you have the right to -”

“Enough!” Tosh has finally had enough. She’s tired, Ianto has just – accidentally or not – retconned himself, and those two are having a pissing contest. Men!

Thankfully they both shut up, looking a little contrite, and she sighs.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. Like Owen said, Ianto isn’t going to remember so it’s not like he’ll tell us whether he did it on purpose or not. Let’s just… go home, and deal with it tomorrow.”

Jack moves to get Ianto but Owen steps in again.

“Oh no, Harkness. You’ve done enough. Tosh, get the car. We’ll take him home, and Jack can take the SUV back to the Hub.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Tosh rolls her eyes and thanks God neither of them can actually die – otherwise she might have thought twice before leaving them alone in the same room.

 

She parks her car in front of the main entrance and hurries back to where she left her team members. She’s relieved to see no further damage has been done to the room – in fact it doesn’t look like they’ve moved at all since she left, the two of them still standing on either side of Ianto, glowering at each other.

She ignores them and shakes Ianto a little. He opens bleary eyes and tries to focus on her, failing miserably.

“Jack?” he says and Tosh is forced to take a step back because suddenly Jack is right here.

“I’m here.”

The smile on Ianto’s face when he sees Jack is wide and happy – if a little drunk, but that’s the Retcon – and Tosh’s heart does a strange thing in her chest. What she wouldn’t give for Ow- someone to look at her like that. She almost misses Jack’s answering smile but she’s glad she doesn’t.

“Oh, good,” Ianto mumbles, already losing his hold on consciousness again. “Love you…”

Tosh feels her cheeks redden a little – she’s fairly sure Ianto had not meant to say that, at least not in front of witnesses – and glances at Jack who doesn’t seem to know how to react either. Owen isn’t making it any easier, his glare increasing tenfold when Jack doesn’t say anything.

 

In the end, Jack and Owen put their differences aside long enough to drag Ianto’s dead weight to her car, depositing him in the back.

Owen gets in, slamming the door behind him and Jack steps back. Tosh stops him with a hand on his arm.

“For what it’s worth, I think it was an accident,” she tells him with an encouraging smile.

“Owen…”

“Owen is Ianto’s friend, even if he doesn’t always act like it, and not a big fan of yours at the moment.”

Jack looks dubious – clearly, he doesn’t think Owen should be described as _‘Ianto’s friend’_ – and Tosh laughs.

“A lot of things changed while you were away, Jack.”

Jack doesn’t look convinced – and still a little suspicious – but at least he seems a bit mollified and that will have to do for the moment.

So she gets into her car, closes her eyes, and lets Owen drive them home.

\---

When Ianto wakes up it’s late afternoon. He’s got a headache and feels vaguely hangover. Which is strange, because he usually doesn’t drink that much. He checks his memories of the evening before and comes up with… nothing. He remembers driving to the wedding, the banter with Jack and Owen in the car, and then it’s a blank page.

He groans, recognizing the feeling. Retcon. He experienced it once before at Torchwood One, coming across something he wasn’t supposed to see. He woke up in the infirmary with a three-hour gap in his memories and was kindly informed that he had been Retconned – and would he please stay away from the eleventh floor from now on?

What the hell happened at Gwen’s wedding? Assuming she did get married, of course. He will have to check in with Jack to figure it out.

 

He feels better after a shower, and doesn’t bother with a suit – it’s too late in the day for that. So he pulls on jeans and a T-shirt and heads for the Hub.

He finds Jack alone at his desk and leans against the doorjamb, watching him. It takes Jack a full minute to look up and see him and a strange expression crosses his face, one that’s gone too fast for Ianto to read it properly.

“Hey you,” Jack says with a smile, getting up from behind his desk and walking up to him for a kiss that lingers and grows into something more than just hello.

“What was that for?” Ianto asks, grinning, as he pulls away to breathe.

“No reason.” Jack shrugs and Ianto gets the distinct impression that there is indeed a reason. He opens his mouth to ask about the Retcon and pauses, reconsidering. What would be the point anyway? If he asked Jack what happened, he would get words without context. And if he asked Tosh or Owen he would get another version. No, since he lost his own comprehension on yesterday’s events, maybe it’d be better if he wasn’t told anything, lest he misinterpret.

So he settles against Jack on the couch and lets Jack’s fingers chase away the last of his headache, making him sleepy all over again. He shakes himself when he feels his eyes closing, shooting a mock-glare at Jack’s satisfied grin and stretching. He knows that his T-shirt rides up to expose skin, and he knows that Jack is watching.

Revenge is sweet.

“How about dinner?” he asks, thinking about takeaway.

“Should we make it a date?” 

Jack sounds almost… hopeful and Ianto raises an eyebrow at him. They never had their date after Jack came back, too much work and not enough time making it easier to fall back into old patterns. He remembers feeling slightly disappointed, but the knowledge that Jack wanted more had been enough.

So he nods, a little cautious – what _did_ happen at Gwen’s wedding? – and Jack visibly brightens. He seems different. Almost… at peace. And Ianto wonders briefly if he should check with Tosh and Owen to make sure he didn’t forget something important, like Jack being suddenly inhabited by an alien entity.

But Jack is enthusiastically pulling him to his feet and dragging him towards the lift and Ianto smiles.

Whatever it was, he doesn’t mind.


End file.
